3 The test of courage
I was sweaty, bleeding, lying on the floor. I had a hard time breathing and my whole body hurt.
Next to me, Panther came to lick my sweat. With great pain I raised my arm to caress my new pet.
—That's it, that's it, I'm done with the lion.
I smiled with satisfaction.
I'm done with the lion.
But it's cost me too much.
I sat as I could and saw the lion lying down.
If it wasn't for karate classes and a little experience with the fights, I wouldn't have made it.
Something new appeared in front of me.
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Choose a skill:
Karate (F) | Knife skills (F) | Fast thinking (F)
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Oh?
This is new.
'Status'.
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Name: Caelum
Age: 20
Titles: --
Level: 2
Remaining Points: 2
Status:
Ø Strength: 21
Ø Agility: 15
Ø Vitality: 21
Ø Senses: 13
Ø Intelligence: 18
Skills:
--
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I'm going crazy today.
—Hey hostess, is this serious? Is this really going to make me improve? That simple?
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Dear Caelum,
You should be happier about killing a lion, although I also tell you, he wasn't at his 100% of his power, otherwise you'd be dead ;)
And yes, this is serious, but you should try it to see how it goes.
Your dear hostess.
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I'm stupid for asking.
Besides, what means that the lion wasn't at his 100%? And isn't she being too affectionate with me?
Without thinking about it I added the 2 points that I received for leveling up to increase 'Senses', my lowest feature.
—Well, if this is true, both my 'Agility' and 'Senses' are now my worst characteristics
Now, skills...
I read the skills again.
F? Skill level?
It must be because if not, I'm lost.
I decided to go for karate, since I have the basics this will be an improvement.
And I finally got to work with dinner.
I took the lion's innards out as I could, took some dried branches from the vine floor, some of them were to start a fire and others were used to prick the meat.
A little while later I enjoyed the best meat skewers I'd ever tasted.
In order to find a place to sleep, away from the dead lion and fire, I decided to walk a little.
I lay in a good shade under vines and fell asleep.
A noise woke me up in the middle of the night, and when I opened my eyes, I understood what was going on.
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Hello new generation,
It's twelve o'clock at night, I'm just bothering you to give you a few facts.
There are 912 people left alive.
Having survived the first day, I give you all one more level, in return, from tomorrow the animals will be wild. Plus, you will start to see that there are not just animals and people in this maze.
Enjoy that level and good luck.
The hostess
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Is there only 912 left?
—Damn it.
I don't like what I read.
In front of me, new skills seemed.
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Choose a skill:
Karate (D) | Hardened skin (E) | Powered Fist (E)
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So it gives me the option to improve the skill of before two levels or add a new skill of a higher level than the skill I have.
This time it took me a little longer to choose, but I chose 'Hardened Skin'.
Opening my status window again, I handed out my two points to 'Intelligence' to round the numbers a little bit.
In the end my 'Status' looked like this:
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Name: Caelum
Age: 20
Titles: --
Level: 3
Remaining Points: 0
Status:
Ø Strength: 21
Ø Agility: 15
Ø Vitality: 21
Ø Senses: 15
Ø Intelligence: 20
Skills:
Karate (F), Hardened Skin (E)
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Can I sleep now?
Although the message left me with bad feelings, I can no longer do anything for the dead. And I'm tired enough to let me sleep.
That night was the last one I slept peacefully and well.
From that day on, what happened was hell.
The second day I had to run out of a herd of elephants that went after me, and I don't know how I survived a lion ambush.
At the end of the second day the number of people alive was 803. More than 100 people had lost their lives in a single day. But what bothered me was not that, but that I couldn't do anything to keep that number from going down.
On the third day I saw how real this was.
On the morning of the third day, I woke up next to Panther and started walking through the labyrinth, with no faith in finding a way out. The funny thing is, we finally found a group of people.
It was a group of about 6 people from about 40 – 50 years old who had met and survived.
They offered me the chance to join them, and I accepted, but I realized they were behind Panther. So, I decided to run away from them.
Lost in the labyrinth that same afternoon I found them dead with animal jaw marks everywhere.
The remaining number of people alive dropped to 721.
I couldn't sleep that night.
The fourth day I looked like a zombie.
I dedicated myself to surviving either killing or running away.
But on the fourth day the encounter happened with something that shouldn't exist, something you can only find in fantasy stories, an orc.
He had to be 3 meters tall, had his fangs out, earrings on both ears and dressed in some leather.
I couldn't believe what my eyes saw. And I ran away.
The number of people alive dropped to 590.
But I couldn't think of it because the image of the orc invaded my mind.
The fifth day was quieter.
I got used to walking senseless, surviving.
I only killed animals when I needed it.
That night I got a message from the hostess.
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Caelum, I know you can do much better than this in this test of courage.
I trust you.
Your dear hostess <3
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I want a break, but she is right.
So I thought about what I was doing.
I was surviving, looking for the exit of the labyrinth, as I was told.
What was I doing wrong?
Suddenly the message appeared marking twelve o'clock at night.
There are 523 people left alive.
The number hasn't been reduced as much as I expected. Why?
There's something I'm missing.
According to the hostess, I'm doing it wrong by surviving and looking for the way out of the maze, then there's got to be something else.
Why is the first test a labyrinth?
Why is it called the test of courage?
Why is a test of courage a labyrinth?
The normal thing in a test of courage is that it's some bravery, something to fight against.
Normal would be something where you have to face something.
Then the orc came to mind.
Don't play with me. Don't! Play! With me!
…
I didn't mean to admit it, but it made sense.
In this test of courage, you have to dare to fight with the unknown. In this case fight an orc.
—Shit!
When I went to sleep, I noticed there was a person approaching.
I put Panther near me and waited for the person to arrive.
—Good morning.
He is a bald man with the face of being angry all day.
This one's Russian for sure.
The man, after a moment, opened his mouth.
—I'm not going to eat the dog. Can I stay in the fire?
I don't know why, but those words improved my mood.
—Sure. What's your name?
—My name is Igor.
—Are you from Russia?
Igor nodded. Inside I celebrated that I got it right.
—I'm Caelum, but you can call me Cam.
Igor nodded with his serious face.
—Where are you from?
—From Madrid, Spain.
—Nice place.
—Well, I never left Madrid, so I can't compare, but I like it.
I smiled at him.
—What's his name?
Igor pointed to a dog poking his head behind my back.
—This is Panther. I think that thanks to him I'm still sane.
Igor smiled.
—I like it.
Then there was a little awkward silence.
—By the way, Igor, do you know how to get out of the labyrinth?
Igor shook his head.
—If I knew, I wouldn't be here.
Good point.
—I have a theory, but would you be willing to listen to me and follow me?
Igor looked at me with a serious face.
—Only if you beat me in a one-on-one battle.
I smiled.
—All right.
And I got up.
At that moment Igor caught my attention.
—But not today, tomorrow, for now let us rest.
I didn't know how to react or what to say.
While I was still in my confused state, Igor put out the fire and lay down.
Sigh.
It's good to have someone else. And more if he is a bald Russian.
